Assigitoe



E'. LVSCHUMACHER. OPHTHALIVIIC MOUNTING. APPUCATION FILED SEPT. 5, |919.

PatentedSept, 12, 1922.

FIG N FIG yl A TTORNEYS.

` Patented Sept. 12, 1922.

UNITED STATES the,

ELMER L. SCHUMACHER, or sonrnnlernen,V Massacnusnrrs, Assienon To AMER-ICAN OPTICAL COMPANY, or son'rrrninen, Massaal-inserts, A. VOLUNTARYASSOCIATION F MASSACHUSETTS.

OPHTHALMIC MOUNTING.

Application filed September 5, 1919. Serial No. 321,928.

To all 'whomt't may concern:

Be it known that I, `ELMER L. SCHU- MAGHER, acitizen of theUnitedStates, re-

siding at Southbridge, in the` county of y Worcester and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inOphthalmic Mountings, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in ophthalmic mountings, and hasparticular reference y to a mounting comprising both metallic andnon-metallic portions.

Previous to the present invention mountings of this general characterhave been produced in a number of ways, including the securing of sheet,grooved or other nonmetallic stock, to metallic parts of mountings, asby rivets, screws, clam s or other forms of fastening devices, whi e inaddition attempts have been made to produce a structureof this characterby taking a regular 'frame and dipping or coating` it with a film ofliquid celluloid or the like. The metallic fastening devices havepossessed considerable disadvantage due to their appearance, to theweakening of the material by the application of thesecuring device, andthe like, while when attempts have been made to `coat standard framesthe coating material has filled` up the lens receiving groove, thusaltering `the size and making it no longer standard, and the appearanceproduced has been unsatisfactory and not practically usable as anophthalmic mounting. This is i due to a considerable degree to the factthat an ophthalmic mounting being worn on the face, comes into line withjewelry and other articles of personal adornment or display,`

and extreme care must, therefore, be taken in construction of suchframes not only that they be of standard size suitable to receive`standard lenses which are produced both `by the factory and theprescription house, to certain denitely fixed measurements. but

n in addition the frames must be both durable `in iinish and neat andattractive in appeary ance to render them a commercially satisfactoryarticle. i l

. In addition, by the use of the hitherto at- 5`0 tempted coatingprocess it has been impossible to produce frames of other than solidcolor, or in other words, impossible to produce imitation shell ormottled frames,

:suchuas are in public demand at the present or crack.

since when loosened it may be peeled oill in i sheets or strips.

It is, therefore, the purpose of my present invention to provide a noveland improved frame and process of constructing the same by which theframe or mounting may be given any desired color or color combination,in which the metallic effect of ordinarily coated frames may beeliminated and the appearance of a irame covered with sheet or rodmaterial secured, in which the frame shall possess all the advantages,structurally and functionally, of a frame covered with Zylonite or othercomposition in solid Yl'orm, and at the same time shall be free from allseparate fastening devices oi' lany character, in which the entire trameor mounting, or any selected portions thereof,

desired, may be equipped with such coating, and in which the mountingshall when in completed form, be of exact standard size to properlyreceive standard ophthalmic lenses and securely hold these lensesagainst any possible twisting or slipping movement.

Many enamels or coatings are brittle and will crack and chip ofi, andwhere such a coating is used, for they possess otherwise many advantagesof appearance and application, it is an object of my invention toprovide a protective coating which will not mar the appearance and whichwill not chip This protective coating may be transparent or it maycontain color, as desired. Many combinations oi"- color may be made by`judicious arrangement oib color in each of the two coats and manyvariations and effects be thus obtained.

Frames ttor eyeglasses and spectacles are made to it lenses ofpredetermined size, known as the .size oi eye. The lenses are ground tothese standard eye sizes so that they are interchangeable in the frame.T this were not so each lens would have to be `ground separately andspecially to fit any It is, therefore, of the '.curatel to size in itslensk receivinr arts and it 1s an object of by inventionr to `produce acombination frame of metal and non- :metallic` material in which thelens receiving part is made accurately to size,e\vhich hitherto has beenimpossible in the so-called coated frames.v

- Other objects and advantages of 'my improved construction vand processof producing same should be readily apparent by reference to thefollowing specification taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, and it'Will be understood that I may makeV any modificationsin the specific details of construction shown `and described Withinthescope of the appended claims Without departing `from `or exceeding thespirit of my invention. y Figure I represents a front View of acompletedA frame embodying my improvements.

II, III and IV illustrate certain steps in my recess. s j i y `Figs.` V,I and yVII illustratel enlarged detail views further illustrating myinvention.4 I

Figure ,VIII illustrates a final step in my process. f

Figure IX represents a sectional view as on the line IX-IX of FigureVIII. y

Referring'particularly to my improved process of productiono'fcombination metallicy and. nonmetallic mountings and my improved frameor mounting as thus produced, I have illustratedfin'connection withFigure II theA initial formation of a metallic rim, which rim isdesigned to be coated or coveredk With a non-metallic material in apermanent manner. It is quite essential that thefinal interior diameterVof the frame shall be oan exact standard size and I, therefore, preferto Start Witha frame which is itselfl of a predetermined size. To attainthis result I place Within the groove of the metal frame 1v the sizerplate 2, which may be designed to produce a 40 millimeter eye, forexample, the diameter of the sizer plate being shown as of 41%millimeters, and the frame being gripped on the end piecesv 3 lby thestretcher jaws 4 to stretch the frame to exactly ,fit the lll-F,-millimeter plate, the eye Wire being thus vstretchedwith thisadditionalv size to allow for subsequent filling upV of the lensreceiving groove by the coating material so that the final size will bethe exact 40 millimeter diameter required.

It will be understood that while I have illustrated my invention inlconnection with the eye Wire portion of an ophthalmic frame, itis notlimited to this articular type of constructionA but is capab e of usefor coating of bridges, guards, end pieces, temples V,or any otherportion of an ophthalmic mountmgg the reason for illustrating it inconnection witha `frame `being that certain difficulties present'themselves in connection one", color applied separatel with the coating,of aframewhichare not present in connection with other portions of amounting, and I have, therefore, illustratedand described the mostdifiicultform in my patent, it being `undmetoodthat it may be used `:torany of the simplereforms as desired.

In the coating of the frame I may either apply the material to allportions of the frame, or mayprefer that certain portions, as forexample the end pieces, outer face of the bridge or kentire bridge, be4free from such coating If desired to eserve certain portions from thecoating t ey are' preferably blanked oil', as by the application of aprotecting coating ofgrease, collodion or other suitable'film 5, tothe,parts, which `tvill prevent thec'oating material from adheringthereto, `but which Vmay be. readily removed when the operation 1scompleted. The desired parts havlng been thus rotected I preferablyproceed with the' pro( uction of my frameby suitably coating the eyefrire, temple, or other part with a layer or film 6 ot a suitable metalenamel lacquer or thc like, which will firmly adhere to the metalparts.y This may be applied by dipping, by

:the spray device 7 g this may be a coating requiring .baking to fix itmplace, an air ldrying coating, orl the t may be a coating cfa singlecolor or o'more than or consecutivelypthatis to say, ajsing e ent-irecoating may be ap lied, allowed to dry and patches of a di ercnt colorapplied, ordificrcntparts may be applied during the one operation. 4Thedifferent `,colors produce a rmottled effect, as for instance, the* redand Lbrown portions 8 and 9 indicated in connection with Figure IVL'4Also, the enamel or lacquer maybe so applied as to produce a smoothVfinish surface, as shown in Figure VI, or may be so applied' and treatedas to produce ay rough surface, as shown in Fi re V. I find thisroughsurface particularly advantageous in securing adherence of thesubsequent liquid thereto'` f l In some instances a smooth surface maybe improved bythe application Vof a thin coat oi. glue, sizing or thelike, l() thereover. The material having beenv thus suitablybuilt up, Iapply, vas by dipping, one or more thick coatsrof liquid' Celluloid 1lto build up, give body and final `finished appearance, to the `Celluloidor the like tion of this by dipping as I have fou best resultsaccomplished in this manner, although the materia-l is capahleofaplication by brush, air spray, or the like, 1 preferred.Als`othis`coat`may be applied of a cleartransparent material which willall'ow the underlyi renamel or lacquer coats to shorv'throug 1 clearly,but Witlir. glossy a pearance due tothe presence of the cellulbldrframe.` I particularly refer to the applicuor the celluloid-zylonite orsimilar material may have a color et itselit to combine with thatalready on the trame, or a su'liiciently deep color to conceal to agreat degree that which has been previously applied, this beingregulated entirely by the desire ot the manufacturer and the particularresult which he wishes to accomplish. ever, the ultimate result is thesame, in that a novel and improved construction is the result of myprocess, which construction has an initial coat lirmly gripping andengaging the metal and forming a :foundation i'or the subsequentnon-metallic material built up thereon in heavy body form and with suchcolor and markings as are-desired.

l would call particular attention to the fact that by my improvedprocess it is possible to produce attractive and desirable ophthalmicmountings and littings therefor which shall be mottled in imitation otshell or in any desired way, a result impossible of accomplishment bypreviously known dipping processes for coating of ophthalmic mountings.

As a final step in the completion of my improved process and to producea commercially practical frame, something not hitherto produced throughdipping, I place the coated trame about the former 12 which has itsexterior diameter exactly correct and is preferably interiorly heated asby the coil 13. The trame is then again stretched around this Yformer 12through the use of the jaws 4:, as in the initial step of my process,the heated Jformer softening the covering composition within the grooveand allowing the frame to come down around the former When the groovewill be the exact diameter and of exact 'circumferential measurementnecessary to properly lit a standard lens and eliminate any possibilityof the lens twisting or turning when mounted within the frame: It willbe apparent that when the above operation is carried out the excessmaterial will be pressed outwardly thus eliminating a portion of thecoating materialin the groove of the eye wire.

.ln those cases where the enamel layer is of a brittle or frangiblenature it may be readily seen that the coating of tough, elastic,celluloid will form a protective coating, preventing the enamel fromchipping oil and at the same time maintaining the luster and sheen ofthe highly polished surface I claim:

1. The process of forming a combination metallic frame consisting informing a me tallic Jframe with a lens receiving groove, coating theframe with a noirmetallic material, and subsequently removing the ma- Inany event, how

terial from the groove oit the trame to form a, lens receiving groove ot.standard diinenu sions.

2. The process ot producing a composition ophthalmic mounting consistingin forming an eye wire with an interior groove, build ing up acomposition coating on the eye wire and producing a standard size lensreA ceiving groove in the trame by eliminating a portion ot the coatingwithin the groove.

3. The process oi' making a lens receiving` iframe tor an ophthalmicmounting comprising making a metallic trame section with an interiorgroove, building up a composition covering on the metallic trame sectionand producing a standard size lens receiving groove in the trame byeliminating a portion oil the coating within the groove oi' the metallictrame.

Il. The process of toi-ming a combination metallic trame consisting incoating a metallic trame with a heat solitenable non-me tallic materialand stretching the combined frame around a heated size plate whereby thenon-metallic material is displaced by the size plate to produce astandard size lensreceiving groove.

5. The process et forming a lens receiving iframe :tor ophthalmicpurposes, consisting in constructing an ophthalmic mounting, stretchingthe eye wire to predetermined oversize, applying` a metal engagingenamel to the eye wire7 applying a sizing to the enamel, building up acomposition covering around the sizing, and stretching the built up eyewire about a heated. standard eye size plate to displace a portion ol'the outer coatn ing, and form a standard size lens receiving groovewithin the eye wire.`

6. As an article ot manu'liacture, an ephthalmic mounting including ametal base member and a built-up composition coven ing therefor having alens receiving groove ot standard size, said composition covering beingdisplaced at the groove to produce the necessary standard measurementsat this point.

7. The process oi making a lens-receiving 'trame ttor an ophthalmicmounting comprising making a metallic iframe section slightly largerthan the size oit lens to be fitted therein, covering the trame sectionwith a nonmetallic coating and shaping the coating over a t'ormer ot theenact lons size.

In testimony whereof, l have aliined my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

ELMEB, L. SCHUMACHER.

Witnesses:

l-l. lil. Pnusons, Amon Gr. l-lAsnnLL.

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